Comments on: TransCanada Boss Says Keystone XL Pipeline Will Have ‘No Impact On Climate Change’http://inhabitat.com/transcanada-boss-says-keystone-xl-pipeline-will-have-no-impact-on-climate-change/
Green design & eco innovation for a better worldSun, 02 Aug 2015 15:14:15 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2By: WBrookehttp://inhabitat.com/transcanada-boss-says-keystone-xl-pipeline-will-have-no-impact-on-climate-change/comment-page-1/#comment-496427
Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:21:25 +0000http://inhabitat.com/?p=485434#comment-496427The two camps are arguing different things. Pourbaix is correct in saying that the emissions associated with production of heavy oil is a small component of Canada\\\’s total emissions. The protesters are also correct in saying that the production of heavy oil is associated with 20% higher emissions than conventional oil.

However, the real issue is not in the emissions associated with the production of oil, but rather with the burning of the oil by the end user. The emissions associated with burning fossil fuels from ANY source dwarfs the emissions from the production of that fossil fuel. So long as people (you and me and everyone else) drive around in private cars and demand air travel to be part of our lives, then we are driving the lion\\\’s share of emissions whether from oil sands or conventional oil.

It is very tempting to vilify Big Oil, and they no doubt deserve consternation, but really they just provide a consumer product and the demand for that product is driven by us collectively.